Judge Juan Merchan has not yet ruled on whether Trump violated the gag order.
Topline
Former President Donald Trump could be fined thousands of dollars for violating a gag order against him in his ongoing criminal trial, as Judge Juan Merchan suggested at a testy hearing Tuesday he was disinclined to side with the ex-president’s attorney Todd Blanche and his arguments—and attacked the lawyer’s credibility.Key Facts
Judge Juan Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump in March that bars him from making public statements about potential witnesses, jurors, counsel and other parties involved with the case that could interfere with the proceedings, expanding the order to also include family members of the court and counsel after Trump started attacking the judge’s daughter on social media.
The judge held a hearing Tuesday over whether Trump should be held in contempt for violating the order, after prosecutors alleged he violated it 10 times through public statements and social media posts, including reposting other people’s comments, that concerned potential witnesses and jurors.
Prosecutors argued Trump had repeatedly violated the order with “deliberation and willfulness”—noting he even edited a quote from Fox News about potential jurors in the case—and claimed Trump’s attacks on potential witnesses in the case are “all part of [his] plan for this trial,” as quoted by Politico.
Blanche claimed his client did not violate the gag order and was defending himself against political attacks from ex-attorney Michael Cohen and adult film star Stormy Daniels, which Blanche claimed are distinct from the public statements that the gag order bars.
Blanche also claimed that reposting other comments on social media does not violate the order—though when Merchan asked the lawyer what case law he had to back that assertion up, Blanche said he had no previous cases to support his argument, and it was instead based on “common sense.
